Beyond the Night
by Numb3rsfan
Summary: Two members of the Atrium have been lost to the Borg.  Now, how far will some go to get them back? A sequel to Shadows and Darkness.
1. Beyond the Night Stats

**Beyond the Night**

By

**Numb3rsfan**

**Rating:** PG-13

**Warnings:** Crossover between Deep Space Nine/TNG and the RPG site Stargate::The Next Generation, Language, Angst, Hurt/Comfort

**Author's Notes: **This is the sequel to "Shadows and Darkness." Please go on to the next page for the beginning of the story.

**Beta: **Jetta Windstar

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Star Trek or Stargate. SGTNG characters belong to their individual players.

Major Jason McCallister, Sergeant Joanne Rhodes and Major Sadie Ford belong to Jetta Windstar. Major Nolan CarMichael belongs to Paul Etearna. Captain Chicago Eastlyn belongs to River4Jayne, Brigadier General David Eddings and Brigadier General Asid Mjolnir belong to Karl"13621" and finally Major Cypher Borodin and Captain Sara Cafferey belong to me. All SGTNG characters are being used with permission.

**Summary: **Two members of the Atrium have been lost to the Borg. Now, how far will some go to get them back? A sequel to Shadows and Darkness.


	2. Prologue

**Beyond the Night**

By

**Numb3rsfan**

_Prologue_

Darkness; cold darkness littered with many millions of stars. It was tranquil, peaceful...beautiful. This was space. It was the darkness above and between all of the planets, and it was the home of beings all their own. Space never changed; it was the same no matter where you looked, however what inhabited space varied from place to place and quadrant to quadrant. In the Alpha, Gamma and Beta Quadrants there were many living species, some human and some not, however in the Delta Quadrant there were only a few species, one more deadly than the others; that species is The Borg. The Borg are a race of beings who are both organic and cybernetic. They live to better themselves, however they do this by assimilating other worlds; other peoples, using their memories and technology to perfect their own. There are millions of Borg drones; most in the Delta Quadrant. However despite the tremendous numbers, none of the Borg are individuals; they cannot think for themselves. A hive mind or Vinculum controls them. The vinculum is a processor or hub through which all Borg thoughts are processed and organized. It creates order out of chaos.

Deep in Borg Space a Borg cube sailed along. In that single cube alone there were at least seven thousand drones and another fifty young Borg that were in maturation chambers. Borg regenerative alcoves were scattered all throughout the vessel, in whatever spaces were deemed 'wasted' spaces.

In one such alcove, near the heart of the Borg cube was a drone. Thanks to all of the implants it was almost impossible to tell what this person had been; male, female, human or not. A Borg eyepiece was attached to the left side of the drone's face; having totally replaced it's left eye, while it's one 'normal' eye was closed, signaling that it was still in a regenerative status.

Suddenly the drone's eye opened; it's single blue eye staring straight ahead as it's optic eyepiece came online. The facial structure of this Borg drone's face revealed it to be a young human female, somewhere in her thirties. Even though it was impossible to tell now, at one point this human had flowing brown hair and a thirst for speed; but now she was only a drone, a single drone among millions.

Stepping out of the alcove the Borg drone turned to the right. It walked several steps before arriving at a lift. Stepping on, the drone pressed a single button. The lift rose up several levels before stopping. The drone stepped off of the lift and proceeded on it's way. As it approached a station it passed by another Borg alcove. In this particular alcove was another drone; also in a regeneration cycle. As before it was almost impossible to tell what species this drone was, except for the fact that it looked more or less like the drone that passed by. The facial structure of the drone in the alcove suggested that this indeed had been a human male around his mid thirties.

As his regeneration cycle ended, the Borg seemed to wake up. The drone's single brown eye stared straight ahead as it's eyepiece came online; red low intensity laser shining against the far wall. Stepping out of its alcove, the drone turned to the left and approached a distribution node that had a slight malfunction. The drone that had passed by not two minutes earlier was also at the node, its pale hands opening up a side panel.

The second drone stopped by the first; it's hands going to the controls on the front of the node as it worked in conjunction with the first drone.

After flipping a few switches, the first drone stood up straight as if receiving a new message from the Collective. This was Sara Cafferey...at least what was left of her. She was more machine now than human; her memories now having been assimilated in to the Collective as she had been. She was no longer an individual but a single drone in a Collective of millions; her designation being 7 of 12. The drone working beside her was Jason McCallister or at least what was left of him. Like Sara, Jason had been assimilated as well. His individuality; his very freedom had been taken from him when he had been assimilated. Now he was a simple drone, designation 8 of 12. He and Sara were in the same section, working extremely close to the Cube's Queen. Neither of them yearned to go home or wished to be freed. They had no knowledge of it and so could not wish for it.

After ten minutes the panel was repaired. Sara moved onward, the vinculum ordering her to report to the Queen, while Jason moved on to another panel that was malfunctioning.


	3. Chapter One: Remembrance

**Beyond the Night**

By

**Numb3rsfan**

_Last time on "Shadows and Darkness"..._

Once everyone was seated, all eyes went to General David Eddings who was going through some papers that were right in front of him. Finally the General looked up and addressed the people right in front of him.

"Two hours ago a MALP was sent to P4X-774. It picked up a distress call before unexplained electrical activity killed our connection to the MALP." General Eddings began. He pressed a button on a small recorder and seconds later a male voice; obviously human filled the room.

"_...dead, losing life support...gotta...i...one is out there please...need assistance!"_

It wasn't a long message but it was clear that someone needed their help, pronto.

"When do you want SG-2 to go, sir?" Jason asked. His team was basically the only team assembled there at the base. He could brief them and have them ready to go within twenty minutes; Jason knew he could!

"SG-2 will not be going on this mission. I need the best of the best and that is you four. Each of you bare unique talents that are required for this mission. I need you all to find out what's going on and rescue any survivors that you find. Gear up and report to the Gate Room in ten minutes. Dismissed."

"Where...where am I?" Sara asked as her brain tried to answer that very same question.

The world around her was unfamiliar. The last thing she remembered was darkness and pain; how in the world did she and for that matter everyone else get to...wherever the hell they were now?

"You are on Deep Space Nine..."

"It's a message from Starfleet. A Borg cube has been spotted on long range sensors." Kira said in utter disbelief.

Hearing the word 'Borg' Commander Sisko whirled around to face Kira; his mind already filling with the memories of losing his beloved wife to the Borg in the battle of Wolf 359. Not only did he lose his beloved Jennifer but his son Jake lost his mother that day; all thanks to Captain Jean-Luc Picard...no...Locutus and the rest of the Borg.

"What? Where is the Cube headed?" Ben asked, approaching Kira's console. He watched as she tapped a few more buttons before her skin became white.

"Here, the Cube is coming here Commander. We have 7 hours, 49 minutes before it arrives." Kira said.

SGTNGSGTNGSGTNGSGTNGSGTNG

"Sir, the heat signatures that were detected...while I can not explain it, they belong to my colleagues." Cypher began, however he paused at seeing the confused look on Benjamin's face.

"Not Major McCallister and the others but four others from the SGC. Major Sadie Ford, Captain Anthony Lowrey, Captain Steve Archer and Sergeant Joanne Rhodes. Rhodes is actually a team mate of mine while Lowrey actually serves on SG-2 with Major McCallister. I don't know how they got here sir, but it appears they got here much the same way we did." Cypher said.

SGTNGSGTNGSGTNGSGTNGSGTNG

"Come on Captain, move it!" Cypher ordered.

"Be with ya in just a second!" Sara replied through gritted teeth as she worked, trying to hold the Borg's hands back. Using her weight Sara bashed the Borg in the head with her head, causing him to stumble back. Seeing that the Borg was stunned, Sara released it's hands and turned towards the lift, but before she could move she felt a sharp pain on the side of her neck. "AAAHHHH!" She yelped. As her mind tried to process what was happening, it soon became clear. One Borg; she had forgotten about the single Borg drone that had been trailing them. When she had stunned the one Borg drone, the second one must have been close by.

Dropping to her knees in shock, Sara barely registered Cypher calling out to her. Looking up as the two Borg drones walked past her, heading for Cypher, Sara yelled "Just go! Don't let em get you too!"

SGTNGSGTNGSGTNGSGTNGSGTNG

Clearing his throat Jason took two steps forward, keeping his rifle at the ready.

"You can assimilate me...OVER MY DEAD BODY YOU ASSHOLES!" He said before he started firing his rifle at them.

Once he started firing he yelled "RUN!"

Nolan took no further encouragement. He ran at the alcove, leaping up on to the side plate before grabbing on to the piping. As quickly as he could he swung on it, reaching out for the top of the generator.

Hearing a yell down below, Nolan looked down just in time to see Jason get over run by several Borg.

"MAJOR!" Nolan yelled. He couldn't believe what he had just seen. Jason had been...no...it couldn't be true...could it?

In shock Nolan saw Jason drop to his knees, two holes on the side of his neck visible.

SGTNGSGTNGSGTNGSGTNGSGTNG

"Alright Major, fine. We'll go back and report in. Major McCallister saved my life once and I'll be damned if I don't get the chance to return the favor. This isn't over yet!" Nolan said. His voice was even yet serious. He picked up the two extra P-90's off of the floor, knowing they had belonged to Jason and Sara. Shouldering the weapons he walked past Sadie and her team before heading towards the doorway that led back down to the Stargate; Cypher following at his heels.

_This isn't over yet..._

The words rang clear in Sadie's mind as she watched Major's CarMichael and Borodin leave the room.

"No...it never is, is it?" She muttered to herself.

SGTNGSGTNGSGTNGSGTNGSGTNG

_And now the conclusion..._

Chapter One: Remembrance

Major Nolan CarMichael stood staring at a wall covered in different plaques and medals; his hands clasped tightly behind his back. This wall was nicknamed the Wall of Memories because each plaque; each metal that was pinned to it told the story of a valiant officer killed in the line of duty to protect the Stargate. Among the hundreds of names, only two of which actually meant something to the Major; Major Jason McCallister and Captain Sara Cafferey.

It had been a year and a day since the loss of the Major and Captain. Ever since that time Nolan had been chomping at the bit to get clearance to go back to that planet to try and find them, not to mention rescue them but it wasn't that simple. General Eddings and General Mjolnir both had read his and Major Ford's reports about the failed mission to P4X-774; they had read about their time on Deep Space Nine as well as their little meeting of the minds with the Borg.

General Eddings had called the Major crazy; practically to his face! He had ordered the Major and the rest of the people who had been sent to P4X-774 to undergo a series of tests to see if there was something the matter with them. The tests took several months to complete but in the end they all came back negative.

It took several more months to get reinstated back on to an active Stargate team since General Eddings still thought he was crazy, but after General Mjolnir's recovery and the subsequent removal of General Eddings from command of Stargate Command, getting Major CarMichael and the others back on to their old teams was fairly simple.

A shadow fell across one of the gold medals, alerting Nolan to the fact that someone was standing behind him, but this didn't worry the Major; he knew who it was.

"Major."

The voice was strong and familiar. It was the voice of his commanding officer; General Mjolnir. The General and Nolan had been friends for a good many years, but the fact that the General had agreed to the tests that General Eddings had ordered had really hurt Nolan's confidence in the General; even now he was having a little trouble getting past that.

"General Mjolnir." Nolan respectfully greeted, even though he still didn't turn around.

Movement off the corner of his eye told Nolan that the General had moved and was now standing right beside him.

"Sources tell me you've been coming here every day since you were reassigned back to SG-3. If there's one thing I learned Major it is this: you shouldn't dwell on the past, it blinds you. There is nothing you can do to change the past. Look towards the future; you have a bright future." General Mjolnir said, his voice soft with the hint of understanding to it.

Nolan took a moment to reflect on the General's words before fixing him with a somewhat hurt look.

"That may be true General, however it's not that simple. The Major and the Captain are still alive and we just abandoned them. We never went back; we couldn't go back! What's that saying, 'No man left behind'? Well we sure fucked that up."

General Mjolnir seemed unfazed by the Major's words, even though he understood where all the hate was coming from. He himself had had to do things he wasn't proud of, there were things he still regretted to this day but he had moved on; at least as much as was possible. Now if only Nolan could do the same.

"If there was any proof that they were alive I would have sent you back but listen to yourself. You told me that you had been on a fictional station fighting beings that only exist in the realm of fantasy. How can you truthfully expect us to believe you? What's more believable, you all were knocked out, someone came and removed the Major and the Captain without your knowledge and disappeared with them, or your story of the both of them having been assimilated by the Borg?" Asid said.

Major CarMichael saw the truth in what Asid was saying. Jason and Sara being kidnapped was more believable than them being assimilated by the Borg yet...

"If I hadn't of been there and seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed it either. But I know the truth General, I know that they are still alive and they need help. We can't just continue to turn our backs on them. They are under your command!" Nolan said.

"I am painfully aware of that fact Major. Even if what you tell me is true, how do you expect to get back to Deep Space Nine? Hmm? You have no idea how you got there, neither do the others." Asid shot back.

Nolan folded his arms. This was really getting them no where, and what the hell was Asid bringing it up once more?

"It's a logical assumption that we get back to DS9 by returning to the planet we were on before; P4X-774."

Asid remained silent, thinking over what Nolan said. He wanted the Major to put all this behind him. SG-3 needed their Commanding Officer in top form and so far all Nolan seemed to be doing was brooding over the loss of Major McCallister. Asid had known the Major had saved Nolan's life when the original Stargate Command had been destroyed; was Nolan's attitude due to some feeling that he owed Jason a favor?

Sighing, Asid finally came to a decision.

"Will going to that planet one last time help you to move on?" He asked.

Hearing that Nolan realized he had to play his cards right to get permission to go back.

"Yes sir." He replied.

"Well then...follow me please." Asid said.

Nolan raised an eyebrow but remained silent as he followed the General. He was unsure of where they were going but his questions were soon cleared up as they approached the Briefing Room. Upon entering the room Nolan was a little taken aback by who all was there. He saw Major Sadie Ford, Captain Cypher Borodin and Sergeant Joanne Rhodes, both having been called back from Atlantis, as well as Captain Chicago Eastlyn, one of the newer SG-2 members.

"All of those who were there have pretty much said the same thing Major. They all want the chance to go back and Captain Eastlyn needs the off world experience, therefore...I am authorizing a mission to P4X-774. Find out what happened there and if our people are there...bring them back. Nothing more and nothing less. Major Ford will be in charge of the team, you will serve as the XO. Gear up and then report to the Gate Room ASAP." Asid said.

So it was done; they were going back. Nolan had been a little surprised that General Mjolnir had requested the presence of Borodin and Rhodes, given that they were assigned to Atlantis, however given the fact that they had been on the original teams that had been on Deep Space Nine...it did make sense.

As everyone filed out of the Briefing Room, Nolan looked back at the General, nodding his head in thanks.

No words needed to be spoken, Asid understood what Nolan was trying to say.

"Good luck Major." Asid said as he watched as Nolan then turned to rejoin the group that was headed to the armory.


	4. Chapter Two: Problems

**Beyond the Night**

By

**Numb3rsfan**

Chapter Two: Problems

Major Ford led the team through the Stargate and back to P4X-774. This was the planet that had sent them on a journey through what some could think of as fantasy, but what they all considered to be reality. In the year that had passed, no one could explain how the planet, or the ruins around the Stargate had done what they had, because no one truly believed the SG team's story about being transported to DS9. Now however Major Ford wished an explanation could be found so she could bring the missing team members back.

"Major Ford, even if we do get back to that other universe, how do you plan on getting the Major and the Captain back? If they are still Borg, you can't just pull the plug. It's not that simple. On _TNG_, Dr. Crusher had Data who established a connection with Captain Picard, while on _Voyager_ they had the Doctor. Whatever we do though has to be done over there because I seriously doubt we'd be able to get them home in their current condition, and even if we could would we seriously release a couple of Borg on the SGC?" Major Borodin asked.

Sadie and Nolan had both thought of that problem and neither of the two of them had been able to come up with a solution.

"Well…getting them to DS9 is out of the question because the station doesn't have the capacity to handle something like that. Maybe trying to get in to contact with the _Enterprise _is an option, I don't know. We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it." Sadie replied.

She led the team up the stairs and to the metal door at the top. Through the door and it should transport them to DS9, at least that's what happened last time. Opening the door, Sadie stepped in to the room and glanced around. The room was the same as she remembered it except for one striking feature. The room was no longer pitch black. Instead there were glowing bluish splotches that lined the walls, floor and ceiling.

"Okay…this is different." Sergeant Rhodes muttered, confused by what she was seeing. Because everyone was so confused by the splotches, it took them a few moments to realize that nothing was happening. They weren't being knocked out, which meant they weren't being transported to DS9.

Approaching one of the splotches, Captain Eastlyn touched it with the tip of her combat knife. The bluish substance coated the knife blade for a few moments before literally causing the blade to vanish as if being dematerialized.

"I take it this wasn't here before." Captain Eastlyn said, glancing up at Sadie and Nolan, who both confirmed her suspicion with a shake of their heads.

Walking across the room, being very careful not to step of the splotches, Nolan saw another door. Grasping the rusty knob, he turned it and swung the door open. Glancing out, he and everyone else gasped in shock because they were looking out on to a green grassy field. Down below was a village made up of what looked like tan stones, with stucco red tiles that made up the roof.

"Come on, we should check out that village. Maybe the people down there could tell us what happened to this place." Nolan suggested, glancing back at his teammates.

Sadie thought about the suggestion for the briefest of moments before crossing the room and taking point. "Major CarMichael is right, let's head out." She said.

SGTNGSGTNGSGTNG

The soft, green grass was soothing to her feet. It reminded her of home; hell the entire forest reminded Sara of home. Sitting down on the forest floor, overlooking a brilliant, blue ocean was Captain Sara Cafferey. She was dressed in a sky blue tank top and denim jeans that were as soft as silk. Sara was in Unimatrix Zero, a subconscious 'safe haven' that some Borg drones could visit. While in Unimatrix Zero, Sara was herself; a human being, but when she was on the Cube she was just another mindless drone.

Looking behind her, she saw Major McCallister talking with Gishawn, a human that had been assimilated in the battle of Wolf 359. It was nice to know that with each regeneration cycle she would be transported to this paradise, but it was also heartbreaking to know that once that cycle was over then the paradise would cease to be.

"What's wrong?"

Looking up, Sara discovered a child no more than twelve years old, standing in front of her.

"Just a little homesick right now." Sara tried to explain as she rose to her feet and brushed off her pants.

"I'm Trever, Trever Knighton. My mom and dad lived the _Atlas_, a small federation ship. They were studying these weird looking metal men but now I can't find them." The boy said.

From the vague description, Sara had a pretty firm idea that Trever's parents had been assimilated. In fact, for the boy to be in Unimatrix Zero, he himself had to have been assimilated!

"I wish I could help, but I am lost here too." Sara said. She wasn't too inclined to help the child since there wasn't really anything she could do; not where they were anyway.

Walking back to the small village, Sara quickly found Jason right where she had left him, talking with Gishawn.

Drawing Jason aside, Sara said "This is obviously before Seven of Nine and Captain Janeway destroyed Unimatrix Zero, the question is, how much longer? Also, we've already endangered the SGC and everyone back at the base. Getting assimilated; the Collective already knows what we knew, so they know everything that we have done."

"I realize that Captain but at present there is nothing we can do to stop them. We just have to wait for help to arrive." Major McCallister said.

"Help…come on Jason, it's been a freakin' year since we've been assimilated. If help were coming, they'd already be here. No one is coming." Sara said.

In the back of his mind Jason had already thought of that, he just hadn't spoken of it yet. "You may have given up hope on our friends Captain, but I haven't. We need to give them a little more time to find us." Jason replied.

Sara sighed. It was obvious she was tired; tired of waiting, tired of being a Borg, hell, tired of the whole entire thing!

She looked up at the sky for a moment, sensing something in the air. "My cycle is ending." She muttered.

A moment later she disappeared. Jason watched her disappear, knowing how his friend felt. He too felt abandoned by his friends but he wasn't about to give up on them. They just needed time and time was all he could give them. He had no way of getting a message out to them and even if he could there was no way he could try.

"We'll get home…we have too." He muttered to himself. A moment later his regeneration cycle ended, causing him to once again vanish from Unimatrix Zero.


End file.
